Penn State Ponders Tuition Based on Course Demand University Studies 45 Recommendations, Including Surcharge

Article excerpt

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Citing a need to cut costs and supplement
losses from dwindling government funding, Penn State University is
considering 45 recommendations to alter its tuition prices that
would net the university nearly $34 million in the first year of
the plan.

These recommendations include a tuition increase for more costly
or in-demand majors, a $500-per-semester fee for international
students and a tuition surcharge for students enrolled in 19 or
more credits. Those increases would be accompanied by a slow
increase in undergraduate base tuition and the possibility of
tuition decreases on branch campuses, including those in Western
Pennsylvania.

"The overarching view, I think, was that tuition should follow
cost and demand a little more than it does," said Susan Welch, dean
of the college of liberal arts and sciences and one of the leaders
of the Budget Planning Task Force.

One proposal in particular caused a stir at Thursday's meeting of
the trustees' Committee on Finance, Business and Capital Planning:
adding a 50 percent tuition surcharge for students enrolled in 19
or more credit hours per semester.

Senior vice president for finance and business David Gray said
the decision would prevent students from loading up on courses at
the beginning of the semester and then dropping those least
attractive later on. Ms. Welch said very few Penn State students
took more than 19 hours per semester but couldn't give an estimate.

The suggestion of a surcharge elicited a strong reaction from
board chairman Keith Masser.

"You're punishing someone who is wanting to get education quicker
and get out in the work force," he said.

More dissent is coming from the state House, specifically Andrew
E. Dinniman, D-Chester, and minority chair of the Senate education
committee.

"This is contrary to our efforts to get students through college
as quickly as possible," he said Thursday. "And one wonders whether
the millions of dollars that it is costing the university for
(Jerry) Sandusky is behind some of the efforts to raise revenues."

"If a student is capable of taking on more work rather than
less," he added, "we have always allowed such students to take on
as much work as they can, without penalty. …